William J. Young III (1935 – 2016)

The news has reached us of the passing of Bill Young, a friend of NASF and a regular visitor to the Laxa i Adaldal here in Iceland. He will be greatly missed.

William J. Young III died on 20 October 2016 after a long and courageous battle with cancer.

Bill, or Youngie to his countless friends, lived a long, fruitful and full life which included time as an officer in the US Marine Corps, the founder of a successful advertising agency, and of course a great supporter of salmon conservation on both sides of the Atlantic.

For great number of years we met every summer on the banks of Laxá in Adaldalur. He was usually guided by his closest friend Peter Steingrímsson, a veteran Icelandic flydresser who named a glorious and successful salmon fly after Bill. The Bill Young fly was almost always ready for action in Bill’s fishing hat.

Bill was truly amazing, a magician and a creative artist with a great many successful advertising feats including the Harvey Wallbanger phenomenon. I once spent a wonderful day with Bill and his wife Wende at their estate in Fossil Drive looking for rare stones and drinking red wine from his priceless wine collection.

To his countless friends across the world he was principally a world renowned salmon angler and a story teller whom we loved to meet and share our fishing stories. He dearly loved his family, many of whom I met and he never forgot to update me on their recent adventures. The last time we spoke he asked me to say hello to Big Laxá. It was one of his most loved salmon rivers.

Bill leaves a wife, Dr Wende Logan Young, and children from two marriages and our deepest sympathies go out to them all.

Orri Vigfússon
Reykjavík, Iceland

Services in celebration of Bill’s life will be held for family and friends on Sat., Nov. 26 2016 in Canandaigua, NY.

I was glad to be able to attend Orri Vigfusson’s funeral on behalf of ASF. It was the most...

North Atlantic Salmon Fund

The North Atlantic Salmon Fund, NASF, is an international coalition of voluntary private sector conservation groups who have come together to restore stocks of wild Atlantic salmon to their historic abundance.

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NASF's key focus is removing nets on the high seas and in coastal waters by brokering agreements. NASF also campaigns tirelessly for better regulations and salmon governance and in doing so promote land-based salmon farming, the removal of dams and bolstering spawning stocks.